A Curious Arrangement
by Kinthinia
Summary: How did it come to this? She was a simple secretary, just a few days ago. And now? Well now, she was trying on dresses and tasting cake. With none other than her boss, her soon to be husband. It was all a very curious arrangement. OC/DM
1. First Job

Curious Arrangements

I shall state this once: I only own my plot and characters, the rest goes to JK Rowling.

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><p>Chapter One, A Trial Basis<p>

He appraised her curiously, his cold gray eyes piercing her as they took in her rather plain appearance. Not that it mattered here. This wasn't some fashion job, it was simply a secretarial job –nothing too fancy but it did pay well. Or would, if she could land it. This was her first time back in Britain since the war had started and everything somehow seemed so very different as the wizarding community was just recovering. A few months ago she'd finally had it with living in America and had decided to move back to her home, even if very little was left. This was the best job offer she'd seen so far; secretary to one Mr. Malfoy.

"You're from America?" he drawled, leaning back in his chair.

"I was born and raised here, in London, but yes I am returning from America."

"You left at the start of the war? Fled?"

"Yes," she murmured, stiffening slightly. It hadn't been her choice nor had it been within her power to change.

He 'hmphed' and looked at the paper in front of him. "I'll give you a week long trial –if you're good enough you can stay."

Mr. Malfoy was a very precise man. By the second day she had gotten a map to prevent her from getting lost again and by the third day she no longer needed it. It wasn't until the fifth day that she realized he was playing with her and that he'd practically humiliated her in front of every department. It didn't make her want to quit, instead she was more determined to get back at him. His humiliation had been effective, simply by neglecting to tell her that she did not need to run to every department to deliver any messages he had. She could have bewitched the papers and sent them off, but that was not something she had seriously considered before.

On the seventh day she was feeling a little anxious but overall pleased with how quickly she had adapted to the environment. She was certain that he would give her the job. As far as she was concerned, he basically had to. She had last through the week and as far as she'd heard, no one else had applied for the position. So it was definitely going to be hers, that much she knew for certain.

And it was that tiny pinch of anxiety that had her at the office close to a half hour too early. But the Ministry was open and she was able to completely avoid the usual rush of people. She unlocked her office and took her usual spot at the desk that _was_ going to be hers. She really needed this job… The money she'd saved up for moving here was getting stretched a little too thin already and she was practically left eating microwavable food. There was no doubt that she could get practically any job she wanted with her grades and her experience working in the hospital in America.

Her references were excellent; there was no fault to accompany her name even if she was passive-aggressive and a touch headstrong. It would not stop her from doing just what she needed to do and neither would it permit her to disregard any orders or rules at her whim. Unless she believed that she was absolutely right in her decision and that the potential benefit was more important than the consequences would she do it. But really, how many situations would arise like that working as a secretary? They happened in hospitals and even then she had a mentor that looked out for her and she had been lucky in her decisions.

When Mr. Malfoy did arrive, he glanced at her once, dismissively before walking into his office. Knowing precisely what his schedule was, she was out of her seat before he'd even stepped into his office and was making the tea of his preference. Her hands shook slightly as she set the cup on a saucer, preparing for when she would have to face the decision that Draco had come to. It was a silly anxiety, considering that she knew that she was the only one who really had a shot of getting this job.

She carried his tea carefully, controlling her shaking hands as she walked into his office, her head held high. He was lounging in his chair again, twirling his quill in his hand as he stared at the papers before him. If she hadn't physically run all those messages for him in the days past, she might have wondered about how a department head could have so little to do. She did know otherwise however, and that this seemed to be a regular pattern of his when he was contemplating something.

"Your tea, sir," she said respectfully, as she set the Earl Grey before him.

He glanced down at it, his grey eyes flashing up to meet hers. "Juliet, was it?"

She jerked in surprise. He hadn't used her name before. "Yes, sir?"

"I suppose, you can have the position."

She brightened, standing up straighter automatically as sheer joy coursed through her. It shouldn't have meant that much to her, but it did. Before the month was out, she wouldn't have to keep on eating that god awful food. Not all of it was completely wretched, but mostly it was. Or had been, then again she was also rather unaccustomed to British food after spending so much time in America. But she was looking forward to being able to eat some of the traditional meals of her childhood, ones that were cooked properly by someone who actually knew what they were doing and not some dimwitted aunt.

"Thank you sir!"

He glanced at her, his lip drawing back in a sneer. "Keep your peppiness to yourself, Conway. Now get out of my sight, go do your job."

Juliet practically pouted at him, but she nonetheless floated out of the office and to her own desk. _Her_ desk. She beamed and adjusted the papers until everything was neat and tidy and her quill was wet with fresh ink and the drawers had been cleared out from the previous occupant's junk. Curious, that they had not taken all of their belongings and equally curious was that no one had removed it since. Speaking of, she wondered what had happened to her predecessor to make her leave this job so suddenly.

Mr. Malfoy was a rather cold man with a twisted sense of humor, but overall nothing truly terrifying. She sighed happily and watched as a missive flew in through their open doors, a wizard hot on its tail. He paused to glance at her.

"You got the job?"

"I did!" She grinned at him.

"You poor thing, I'll tell your boss to take it easy on you. He's got no sense that lad."

Juliet blinked, confused. Everyone had seemed rather bemused but she had thought that it was only because of how easily Mr. Malfoy had both manipulated her by not telling her everything and because she was so new. It was something she wasn't entirely unfamiliar with, being the new kid on the block. It would take time for people to accept her and then to add to that would be her upbringing. The Americans hadn't liked that she'd gone there because of the war and the people here wouldn't like to know that she'd left because of it either. Mr. Malfoy's reaction earlier certainly had been proof enough. It was something she would rather keep to herself. In replacement of that, the reason they would use was because she was from America regardless that she had grown up in Britain.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"He worked his last secretary to the bone he did, enough that she quit before the year was up. Seems he always gets a new one every year. You'd think that just because he's the youngest head of department we've had he gets special treatment. If I went through a secretary a year, whew, then I wouldn't be getting another. But I guess that's just part and parcel of being a department head, you kind of make the rule yourself without having to follow them."

"And that Blaise is complete and utter trash. Firstly, you do not get a secretary because you do not need one and secondly, my secretaries have so far been incompetent," Mr. Malfoy drawled, standing outside his office and looking rather impatient. "I did not hire you to entertain my secretary, although she is here to be rather entertaining to those waiting for me. Blaise, I do _expect_ that when you have an important message to deliver about the Irish Minister that it will be promptly given to me before you stand here and blatantly lie to my secretary."

And there was the cold, hard Mr. Malfoy she had seen earlier today. He knew what he was talking about and he was the boss –what he said went. Besides this Blaise fellow clearly had not been thinking straight to start gossiping to her about their boss when he was only a few feet away within his office.

"I received your owl, get on with it." Mr. Malfoy gestured impatiently once more, his face an expressionless mask as he followed after Blaise.

"Aw, Draco you've got no sense of humor. I just wanted her to know the truth about those secretaries."

The smirk on the other man's face was rather interesting as he backed out of the office, Mr. Malfoy stalking after him and looking no more or less impressed than he had when this whole banter started. She wondered at that. She knew nothing about Mr. Malfoy except that his opinion on why his last secretaries had left were not congruent with the gossipy rumors in her workplace. Juliet was perfectly fine with that.

If it was as Mr. Malfoy had said, that the last secretary was at least incompetent she knew that she would easily be able to survive her time here. She was not some incompetent kid and she rather enjoyed the heavy workload. It kept her busy. And with what the man –Blaise? –had said then it was also potentially true that the last secretary had simply been unable to keep up with the workload that Mr. Malfoy expected to be done.

She had not known that he was the youngest of the department heads and it was a rather curious thing to contemplate. She glanced at the list of things that she had to get done and got started on it.

She made a face at the mess of contacts she had to sort through and set about rearranging them in alphabetical order of their surnames. She then further divided them by what country each contact represented and the position they held within that country. She was making her way through the list of contacts they had in France when a sharp rap to the door alerted her to someone's presence and she looked up.

"Malfoy here?" he asked rather brusquely. He looked unimpressed and bored, and slightly reluctant as though he didn't want to be here. The tone in which he spoke also carried the weight of that reluctance and some measure of disdain.

"I'm afraid he's out at the moment," Juliet informed him, using the most pleasant voice she could muster. "May I take a message for you?"

"Uh yeah, tell him that the Auror office has found some dirt on that scumbag Von Dane and we need to talk to him."

She scribbled the message down neatly, close to word for word with what this man had said. "Who should I direct him to speak to?"

"Well, me I guess. I'm in charge of this case, for once."

Juliet glanced at him in confusion. "Your name, please?"

"Ah, Ron Weasley." He smiled sheepishly, "You must be the new secretary right? Forgot."

"Thank you, and yes," she added pleasantly as she neatly wrote his name underneath his message.

He paused, turning to go. "What on earth possessed you to take the job for Malfoy in the first place?" He said the name contemptuously. "I mean… you have to know, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Where the hell have you been? Hiding under a bloody rock?" he looked at her incredulously.

"America," she replied stiffly. "You may go now."

It was a dismissal, a rather blatant one, but she did not want to speak with the red haired man any longer. What was there about Mr. Malfoy that she was supposed to be concerned with? He was a cold, serious man who so far appeared dedicated to her work. He would be an easy boss to live with, she simply had to do her part. It wasn't as though there was going to be plenty of conversation between the two of them that was on a personal level. As a secretary, yes she would get to know Mr. Malfoy and likely his personal acquaintances but that did not necessarily involve getting to know him. And it wasn't like she herself had ever been a secretary before or had known any, so there was the potential that she could be completely misinformed about the entire thing. She didn't believe so though.

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><p><em>Well, I'm going to try and get this written. I'm currently inspired and my life is adequately stressed enough to keep me writing.<em>

_So, I hope you all enjoy and are looking forward to more! :)_

_This is basically part one, of chapter one. I didn't want a super long first chapter. _


	2. Planning a Party

A Curious Arrangement

Juliet had been working for Draco for nearly a month. She was no longer stuck eating that horrible microwaveable food and was expressly glad because of it. She had not encountered Ron Weasley since their first meeting, which she was also pleased about. She had however met Blaise Zabini several times since. From her understanding he was a good friend of Draco's, from back when they went to school together. Aside from Blaise, very few people ever came to see Mr. Malfoy.

She grabbed him a fresh cup of tea, knowing that he preferred it at this time in the afternoon. It was a simple request he had made once during her second week, and she had taken it upon herself to continue to do so. He drank the cup of tea every time.

She stepped into his office, carrying the fresh cup of tea. Draco was frowning at the fireplace, only embers were glowing in the hearth now. Juliet carefully set the tea down on his desk, away from his papers before heading over to relight the fire and get the blaze going again. Winter wasn't quite over yet, clinging tenaciously wherever it found opportunity. As well, with a well-lit fire it would make communication easier for Mr. Malfoy.

"Thank you Juliet, but that was… unnecessary." He sighed, pushing his platinum blonde hair back from his face.

"It is my job, don't go taking the small things from me sir, or I'll have naught left to do."

He chuckled dryly, "Are you perhaps saying that as things stand, you don't have enough to do and that is why you occupy your time doing small favors for me?"

"No sir." She smiled at him, hoping to hide that it was part of the reason. "You keep my time more than occupied."

A snort escaped him and he shook his head slightly. It took her about that long before she realized how he had interpreted it. A blush spread across her cheeks, all the way up to her hairline and she took a big deep breath, willing the color to go away.

"Well, nonetheless," he said, shaking his head, "you'll have more work to do now."

"W-what do you mean?"

He smiled tightly, "I'm getting engaged. And I'm going to need someone to send out invitations and the like to the ceremony."

Juliet blinked uncertainly. "W-who's the lucky lady?" she inquired, trying to make sense of the situation. She hadn't known that Draco was even seeing anyone.

"Astoria Greengrass," he replied tersely.

"How long have you been dating?" She smiled at him hopefully.

A bubble of laughter, real, genuine laughter escaped him. He tried to pass it off as a cough, but it was too late. She could see the smile that eh was trying to fight away, the amusement that lit up his eyes at her question.

"We haven't even met," he replied dryly.

"Then why are you-?"

"Ever heard of an arranged marriage, Juliet?"

"Well, yes. Of course." Draco looked at her expectantly. "You're in an arranged marriage?" The words sounded no less incredulous outside of her head than they had within it.

He didn't even offer her a reply, merely nodding his head. "Don't let the whole world know, I'll get the necessary contacts to you. Simply tell them it's an engagement party at Malfoy manor, obviously it's mine but they can guess at who it is I'm marrying. No need to spoil the mystery for them."

Juliet frowned at him wonderingly. "Or is it because you don't want to admit that you're getting married?" From her limited knowledge about men and how friends and family had spoken of them, men were always loathe to get married because it meant giving up their freedom. Or some such nonsense. Mr. Malfoy may have been an astute businessman, but he was still a man.

He shot her a sneer, "Get back to your desk before I fire you. I don't pay you to talk to me, Conway."

"You know sir," she said, as she paused at the doorway. "I would treat your secretary a little better, we tend to know dirty secrets that bosses don't want being known," she flashed a sweet smile in his direction, to cover up the threat. "I do have a name, and I rather like it." She left his office, shutting the door behind her.

Juliet sat back down at her desk and it took Mr. Malfoy about fifteen minutes before he bothered to address her, wordlessly handing her a letter that contained the names of the people who had to be invited. She knew his handwriting well enough at this point to recognize that it was not his own, and she would have attributed it to the time it took but she figured it had more to do with his feelings towards her. She had both challenged and threatened him. Yet, interestingly enough, she still had her job at the end of the day. She wrote formal letters to what had to be half of the wizarding company, if not the entirity of it. She glanced towards Draco's office, wondering how he felt about this situation. It might be necessary for his family, but he still had to have some opinion and some emotions surrounding the whole situation.

If she were in that situation, she would run. Even if it meant losing all that money, she would be able to make it on her own. That much she was confident about. She flourished her signature onto the last paper and sent them flying on their way to their owner. By the end of the day, the Ministry was flowing with gossip at who Draco Malfoy's fiancee was going to be.

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><p><em>So yes, I am alive and still working on this story. Sorry for the long delay, school work and stress took over but now it's almost over so I can get to work on this story.<em>

_I am determined to successfully finish a Harry Potter fanfiction at some point. This story I especially intend to see finished. _

_Which guests do you most want to see at the engagement party? And, yes, this story is Juliet's. Just need a little time to get there. _

_I will update again as soon as I have time. If anyone knows of any awesome Draco fics, I would love to read them and find some ideal places to pick up more on his personality and some inspiration, PM them to me or leave them in a review :) _


	3. Dress Robes and Jealousy

That next week she was eating more delicious food than she had ever eaten before. Or that she could remember eating. She had been putting a lot of hours in helping Draco plan the engagement party. Honestly, he would have done better to contact his fiancée but the stubborn prat just wouldn't do it. So Juliet was left having to sit with him through pointless decisions. Apparently his mother had refused to give him any help with this 'project' so he was forced to seek help elsewhere. Personally, she didn't feel like she was really helping him. She felt more like she was simply being paid to do these tasks and follow him around all day.

Alas, the life of a secretary. But it could have been worse. So she smiled away and pretended to be charming as she listed to the drivel of professionals who were happily designing new robes for Mr. Malfoy. At least this time he was able to make the decisions himself. Juliet idly wondered how his marriage would go, whether his soon-to-be wife would simply tell him what she had decided on or if he would actually get to make any single decision himself. If the woman took over the whole thing, she could only see a disaster looming in their future. Or maybe she was over thinking the whole thing. She exhaled, flicking a golden curl away from her face impatiently.

Of course, this drew Draco's attention. "Are those awful things you call robes the best you have?" The disgust in his voice was poorly concealed, most likely as he intended it to be heard.

"Well, yes…" She'd been trying to save up money in order to move to a better location. She made plenty of money working as his secretary, however it wasn't _that_ much. "What's wrong with these anyways?" They were clean. They weren't the cheapest, but they were nothing like the satin that Draco wore. Satin, as she was concerned, was impractical. Hence the reason why she would never buy them to wear for work or anything.

"They're completely unsuitable," he stated. "Measure my secretary while you're at it," he demanded curtly.

The fellow nodded and got to work on finishing writing out what Draco had ordered for his own robes. He was having several made, some for work and then the dress robes that he would wear at the engagement party. Juliet stood stiffly and awkwardly as the enchanted tape measured her this way and that in front of her boss. She almost felt like she was being prepared to be sold. But, for all intents and purposes, Draco Malfoy might as well have already owned. She was at the mercy of his beck and call and she had to do most of what he wanted unless she wanted to be fired. Which she really, really didn't want to lose.

Her attention was focused on making sure that the man sticking pins through the near velvety material was in no danger of stabbing her with the pins.

"Conway, you are aware that you will be coming to the engagement party yes? These will be your dress robes."

"And the money's coming from where?" Juliet regretted her words about as soon as she said them.

"Why, from your next cheque of course."

She turned to fix him with a glare, yelping unnecessarily when one of the pins stabbed her. The fellow offered her a hasty apology and hurriedly continued his work. She ignored the snickers of her boss and remained perfectly still as the man did the last few touches of the measurements.

"I can't have you reflecting poorly on me," he added haughtily.

"I am my own person," she snapped. "I don't care if I reflect poorly on you –I'll wear whatever I want to!"

"If you want to lose your job, that's up to you."

She huffed in frustration and was grateful when she was allowed to remove the satiny fabric. She emerged a few moments later, handing the material off to the wizard before going over to her boss. He was engaged in conversation with a witch who seemed to be a close acquaintance of his. Her hand was resting on his arm and she was smiling brightly. But the smile did nothing to improve her looks –she had the face of a squashed pug.

"Who's that?" The mystery woman's voice was shrill and with just those two words was already grating.

"My new secretary, Juliet Conway," Draco introduced her politely. There was a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips though that immediately raised Juliet's suspicions that something was up.

She turned to her, scowling as she looked Juliet up and down. She almost felt like protectively covering herself up from the woman's bizarre scrutiny, but she didn't. She would give no one the satisfaction of being in control over her –except Draco, who was in a position to dictate to her. But she wasn't looking forward to giving that sort of power to others. There was a reason that jobs didn't come easily to her. Draco Malfoy was an insufferable prat at times, but he was manageable. Juliet was more than capable of working with manageable.

"She isn't your usual type."

"Blaise said something like that too, but he was nonetheless eager to take her as his own secretary."

She laughed shrilly and Juliet tried to not cover her ears, instead smiling charmingly as much as she wanted to strangle the woman on the inside. She wasn't Draco Malfoy's dog or a slave for sale.

"Well, Blaise _is_ a different type than you. Conway you said?" She turned to glance at Juliet again as though she was inconsequential. "I seem to remember that there was a Conway when we went to school, whom disappeared some time into our fifth year."

"Was there?" Draco replied casually and Juliet wondered whether he was asking genuinely or if he was toying around the question.

"Yeah. I can't remember her first name though; I think she was a Hufflepuff or something. Some plain-Jane nobody."

Juliet had to turn away for a moment to hide her amusement, disguising it with a poorly done imitation of a sneeze. Yes, she had attended Hogwarts, and yes, she had been in Hufflepuff, but that didn't help the woman's apparent jealousy. Especially when it had been so long since she had gone to the school.

"Well, actually I was in Hufflepuff, but I'm just wondering what it was that I did to you back in school to stand out so outstandingly in your memory. I mean, forgive me, but… Who are you?"

"Pansy Parkinson," she sneered, glowering down her nose at Juliet.

She blinked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the other woman. Her pug face was easily forgettable and her name didn't really stand out. "Sorry, I don't remember you."

There were a lot of people Juliet couldn't remember. She remembered Harry Potter, of course, the most famous wizard ever and she remembered Cedric Diggory and other close friends of hers from Hufflepuff. But other than that, she didn't remember a lot of people. The last time she'd been in Britain, she had been fifteen before her parents moved her to the States. It had been almost ten years since then.

"I have more important ways to spend my time than reminiscing about old classmates, so yeah…" she trailed off, glancing at Draco. "We can go back to the office whenever."

He smirked and turned to his old friend, "Goodbye Pansy."

She scowled, "I hope that she isn't the 'lucky lady, Draco,'" she sneered. "You deserve someone more _worthy_."

There was a moment of silence and Juliet wished she could know what was going through Draco's head. He seemed somehow amused, by the upturn to his lips but also irritated from the way he was standing.

"Well you know, if I was, which I'm not, it wouldn't really be your business because you don't have anything to do with the situation and I suggest you butt your ugly nose out of other people's business and try to grow on up. Hogwarts was a long time ago –time to get your own life Parkinson." Juliet informed her coolly before walking out of the store.

She didn't wait for Draco –he was capable enough to handle the situation however he felt like doing. She Apparated back to the Ministry and headed towards her desk, confusion swirling around her. Obviously Malfoy was capable enough to handle someone like Parkinson, so why did she feel the need to step in like that? It wasn't as though he was upset. He didn't even know the woman he was marrying! And that was just wrong, on so many different levels. But regardless, it was Malfoy's own business and he could share it however he liked to. Juliet didn't care what his relationship with that pug-faced woman was. Draco Malfoy was about to be married and whatever his feelings were, should be respected. Juliet groaned softly, hoping that she hadn't overstepped too badly. Because it really wasn't her business if he was good friends with that woman, if he wanted to humor her obvious feelings and toy with them while he was getting engaged. It wasn't her business.

When he returned shortly later, he didn't spare her a second glance, coolly walking into his office and shutting the door. Juliet spent the rest of her shift in silence and working on arranging his schedule and keeping his meetings organized. It was late when she left the office, Draco still locked up inside his room. She glanced back towards him briefly, hoping this wasn't a bad sign before Flooing home. Sometime after a very late dinner and before her shower, there was the sound of an indignant hoot and she rushed to get the window to let the poor owl inside. In the process of retrieving the package it had brought, she sustained several nasty pecks before sending the creature off.

Curiously, she pulled the note aside. It barely took her a moment to recognize the neat writing as her boss's and she quickly tore open the package to discover that it was the robe they had gone to the store to buy. She turned back to the paper, looking for some clue of what he was trying to say only to see her own name written in his tidy scrawl. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.

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><p><em>Special thanks to Haunted and Sparkzzz for reviewing despite the long break that has happened here. <em>

_Please let me know what you think is going to happen, or what you want to see happen. And I think, when I get to the plot, some of you might be surprised. _


	4. Engagement Party

Juliet looked up in surprise at the other woman who calmly entered the office. At a glance it was obvious that the woman didn't work here. Her robes were styled to perfection, practically molded to her body as they hugged all her curves in the right places. Her wild black hair was pinned back, emphasizing the angular lines of her face and the sharp hazel eyes that eventually landed on Juliet.

"I'm looking for Draco Malfoy," she stated haughtily.

"He's busy right now," Juliet hedged, watching the woman warily.

"A man can never be too busy for his fiancée," she retorted. "I will see him."

Sure you will, Juliet thought to herself, and you'll see him fly into a rage as well. Raising her hands in surrender, she pointed out Malfoy's office and settled back to resume her paperwork. Things were really starting to pile up lately, what with the manhunt for Von Dame just getting underway and the Auror office placing a lot more demands on Malfoy. He was already swamped with the work for the Quidditch tournament that was coming up and now the Aurors had decided to start adding more pressure. They needed to get into Sweden quickly, because they're lead was already starting to go a little cold. And the Minister wanted news back about Scotland's participation in the tournament, so everyone had been busy the last few days.

The woman –Astoria, she reminded herself, walked into Draco's office completely oblivious to the mountain of work that they all had to finish up. Things in this department were never completely dead, but often they were slow and at times when things were busy –everyone was flying to get their work done and no matter what, they're always seemed to be another stack of it waiting for them. Juliet sorted through the completed files, organizing them by alphabetic location and then sub-categorizing them by importance to the location.

When Astoria was sent from his office, Juliet was surprised to notice that Draco Malfoy's fiancée was not in tears. Lately most people who had disturbed him had been reduced to a blubbering mass. That either said something about his self-control with the woman, or perhaps it had more to say about her considering her resilience. But as Juliet watched her walk out, her hips swaying ever so slightly, she couldn't help but feel that it had more to due with Draco than anything else. She took the organized folders with her, entering his office after a brief knock and setting them on his table.

His usually neat desk was a mess compared to its usual standards; paper was everywhere. He wasn't even sitting at his desk, but glaring out the window with a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. She cautiously set the folder down on his desk, turning towards him.

"Are you alright?"

His hair was disheveled, as though he had spent the morning running his hands through it in exasperation as he was prone to doing. As far as Juliet was concerned, it actually looked better that way than in the carefully styled way he usually sported. He looked up, his grey eyes meeting hers and she wasn't surprised to see that the bags under his eyes were no longer visible. Appearances meant a lot with pure-bloods probably; she wondered if he had been expecting to see Astoria today.

"I'm fine," he snapped, stalking back over to his desk. "What is this?" he gestured to the folder.

"It's your paperwork," she supplied cautiously. "Organized, if you need to find anything on short notice." He had been rummaging through the folder for some information the other day and hadn't been able to find it, so Juliet had taken it home and organized it efficiently as well as proceeded to supply the information that he needed. He often used the files as points of reference, containing little notes about the other Ministers for Magic in foreign countries –it was an invaluable resource to their department.

He eyed the folder, skimming through it before glancing up at her. "Thanks…"

The rest of the day passed in a blur and she was sent as errand runner to try and get necessary files and information from other workers in their department. It seemed just as one person had finished their work and she could return it to Draco, there was someone else who was nowhere near done and Draco was roaring. But, by the end of the day, they had gotten a response back from both the Minister of Sweden and the Minister of Scotland. Both were resounding yeses; although the Minister of Scotland had apparently made a deal with Draco before confirming that he would indeed attend the Quidditch tournament. But the details didn't really matter.

And then it was a matter of a rush, to get dressed up in her dress robes. Usually she would have just worn a dress to an event of this type, but her boss had made it rather clear that she was attending with him as his secretary and not a guest. It wasn't as though the robes would make her stand out either; there were bound to be reporters who would be dressed similarly. She was glad though, that her robes were of a complimenting color to her skin tone and nothing overly extravagant. She would look good, standing next to Malfoy in this business attire.

Why exactly he would need his secretary at his own engagement party was beyond her, but she wasn't going to try and fight him over it. So she Apparated over at the specified time and entered the mansion with the rest of the guests. Finding Draco turned out to be a bit of an ordeal however, as he was separated by a crowd of people who were knocking back some of the finest wines available.

It shouldn't have been a surprise, but he managed to look even more regal and expensive than usual. He was wearing traditional dress robes with a modern edge to it; the robes were form fitting, highlighting the leanness of his body. The pale blue-grey tie seemed to bring out the color of his eyes. He looked very handsome, standing there as she cautiously approached him. She was right, she didn't exactly stand out– the female reporters were also wearing pencil skirts and blouses.

As Draco looked around, his eyes finding hers, he moved over and the reporters dispersed. The announcement of his fiancée's identity wasn't going to be made until dinner, when he would invite his fiancée to stand with him and together they would announce their marriage. In the meantime, as Draco moved over to her and went around greeting his numerous guests, Juliet served as his ever diligent secretary, presenting introductions that she wasn't prepared for. And was therefore, very grateful when it was time to sit down for dinner.

One thing she didn't notice though was a certain someone's absence. And in hindsight, Juliet would come to wonder what she would have done if she had known earlier that Draco Malfoy's own fiancée was absent. Presently, she watched as he stood up and silence descended throughout the room.

"I would like to thank everyone for having come out tonight," Draco said, his lips quirked into a little smirk. "After all, it's not every day that I get engaged," there were a few scattered, uncertain bubbles of laughter. "And I would just like to thank my fiancée, for being so willing to put up with a man like me." He took a sip from the glass he was holding, turning just slightly to make eye contact with various wizards and witches as he spoke. "And I am more than honored to introduce you to my fiancée, Juliet." At that, his gray eyes met hers, his wine glass was held up towards her and she suddenly realized that the whole room was looking at her.

Juliet stood up confusedly and there was polite clapping through the room. She kept her eyes on Draco –what the hell was going on? He indicated for her to come closer and some of the guests rearranged themselves so that she could sit beside him as the plates were also magically replaced. She took her seat beside him, trying her best to not throttle him. What was going on? She wasn't engaged, she wasn't a pureblood, and she had made no arrangements with him prior to this. And her parents certainly wouldn't have consented either.

Dessert passed in a flash and gradually the guests started to leave. Not before offering the 'happy' couple their congratulations though and all the reporters tried to get a statement from her. She was close to hexing some of them on multiple occasions before Draco swept in and sent the reporters on their way. Every chance she got alone with Draco, she attempted to ask him what was going on but the only thing he had to tell her was that he would explain it all once everyone was gone. And finally, she watched gleefully, as the last guest did indeed leave.

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><p><em>I wanted to leave you with something of a confusing cliffhanger -thank you all so much for the reviews! More to come tomorrow. <em>


	5. A Curious Arrangement

Juliet waited to the count of ten before she whirled to face him. "What the hell was that about?!"

"That was our engagement party," he replied with a smirk.

"You don't propose to a woman like that!"

"I'm well aware," he sighed. "Look, Juliet, calm down."

"I am not calming down you jerk! You just-just what _was_ that?!"

He shot her a dark look, a warning clear in his grey eyes. Juliet fell silent, inhaled and exhaled several times, waiting for him to speak while she tried to calm down. This was unacceptable. It was common knowledge that pure-bloods were often married off to other pure-bloods regardless of whether there was love involved or not, just so long as their blood status was carried along. Her own half-blood status kept her safe from that, or at least it was supposed to have. She had spent a little time, like any young girl had; thinking of what her marriage would look like. Her marriages had always featured love; there had never been an instance in which it was a sham.

"Astoria and I are not compatible. That was made painfully obvious to me this afternoon, and her as well. However, my parents expect me to take a wife and the invitations had already been sent out. I am more compatible with you than with Pansy, and at this point, she's nearly the only one left."

"So you…. You're marrying me as the last resort," she stated. Wow. That, that actually kind of hurt. She squeezed her hands together, trying to not think of the perfect curse that she could use on him. It might have made her feel better, but it wouldn't improve the situation. She exhaled slowly; so it was her or Pansy but at least she was one up on Parkinson despite the blood status differences.

"No."

Juliet turned to look at him incredulously. "I don't even want to be married Draco Malfoy and I certainly expect to have arrangements made with me before you go trotting me around like you own me. This isn't okay!"

What was she –his slave? No. She was her own person and she belonged to no one else. And marriage –if she was going to be married it would be a partnership. If she was going to be married it would be out of love. Not this farce.

"I'm not marrying you Juliet, if you would just listen," he ground out. "I do need you, and yes I should have asked you beforehand but I didn't exactly have the luxury of time. I need you to pose as my fiancée until I can find someone else and I'm sorry for springing this on you like this, it was horrible of me to do. I'll give you that recommendation to St. Mungo's, if you want, and pay you overtime for every occurrence I need you to play fiancée."

Juliet blinked in surprise. St. Mungo's was full with enough healers that her application had been rejected as soon as she had submitted it. They didn't care what their American cousins had to say about her skills –the practices were quite different, apparently. Since her arrival in Britain, and even before that, she had been reading some of the works that St. Mungo's had published to try and learn what was necessary. But as far as she could tell, she would need a qualified teacher and a trusted recommendation or two.

"I can pull a few strings; get you that teacher and that recommendation."

She hadn't wanted to be a secretary. She never grew up thinking about how she had wanted to be a secretary. She did grow up wanting to be a healer though, and had succeeded at it back in America.

"Paying me and giving me all this…" she started hesitantly. She could really use the money. And she could definitely use that recommendation and training. "Can you guarantee it? Put it in writing?"

"Whatever you want."

She looked up at him, sensing smugness in his tone. "What exactly does playing pretend fiancée entitle? And what happens if you can't find anyone else –what happens if _I_ find someone else?"

"It means we go out to lunch and dinner, we hold hands, and we give interviews on occasion. We look and act like a couple. If I find someone else, well we can stage a break-up or something. And if you find someone else… so long as you're discreet, extremely discreet, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Y-you…. You mean even being pretend engaged to you I would have to look like a cheating bitch and have potential affairs behind your back?"

"Exactly. You can explain to the bloke if you want about the circumstance, if necessary I will as well so long as we have some guarantee that he won't run to the Profit with this information. I'm sorry; my family can't risk anymore bad imagery. We've barely recovered from the war –if things were different, I would have just played off Astoria's rejection as her party girl status but I'm afraid the Malfoy family doesn't need any additional shame."

"And if you don't find someone?" she asked hollowly.

"Then I'll end this after six months, we can set something up for it. Whatever you want."

Six months? That wasn't that bad. So, at worst six months of this? This insanity. Well it probably wouldn't be quite like this because she would be more prepared about what they would be doing exactly. "I need some time to think about this, Draco. I won't tell anyone, but just… give me some time."

"I can do that. But I need an answer by tomorrow morning, when you come into work."

"Sure, I-I'll just have things figured out by then." Which was probably easier said than done, but that wasn't really important at this point was it?

She walked towards the door, and caught movement from the corner of her eye as her hand settled on the doorknob.

Draco nodded, shuffling over to set his hand on the door. "You might not believe me, and I won't blame you, but I really am sorry." He paused for a moment, his eyes meeting hers. Knowing he was a Malfoy, she ignored the silent plead in his eyes. "Please think about it," he repeated quietly, holding the door open for her.

Juliet walked past him, refusing to make eye contact again. He was right. She didn't believe him, and she had a lot to think about. He could give her everything she needed to move away from the Ministry and do her dream job. Back in the States she had been close to getting a promotion to a main member of the healing staff; here she was a no body. Draco could give her that. She Apparated back home in exhaustion.

He wasn't precisely pretending to be engaged to her because there was no one else, but rather because she was a better option. Well that wasn't really any better. He would pay her; she could make tons in savings. However, it would be difficult to find someone to have a relationship with so long as they thought that she was attached to Draco.

But she could have everything. She could have money and her dream job. What would she really be giving up here? Six months at the worst, six months of freedom. And what was the likelihood of her having met her dream guy in that time? In six months she could leave the Ministry, walk out of Draco's office with her belongings and never have to see him again. Unless he was seriously injured or hurt and that wasn't going to be very likely; St. Mungo's probably had a big patient intake list.

Putting up with Draco Malfoy for another six months wouldn't be that bad. He probably knew everything he had to about her anyway. Her résumé clearly, and had apparently calculated what her dream job was. Juliet had been planning to save some money up so she could take a course at St. Mungo's, but this way it would be quicker no doubt. And considering Draco had done his job, he probably knew that she was only a half-blood and it shouldn't shake things up too bad. She sighed tiredly, collapsing onto her bed.

Did this mean she was going to do it? Juliet stared at her ceiling, wishing that it would divulge the answers to her because she just didn't know. Marriage was a big deal. And it wasn't right to trifle with something like an engagement for the sake of things being easier –it wasn't right. Because no matter what she told herself, Draco Malfoy was buying her. But it wasn't as though she was in love with him. She needed what he was offering –sure, she could have spent a year or two in England working on getting that teacher and the recommendations necessary. But this was a short cut. She groaned softly, sitting up.

She had all the necessary schooling; she just needed a teacher and that recommendation. So now what was she supposed to do? She could save a few years and instead of working as a secretary, she could be doing meaningful work as a healer. Juliet knew that she would be living with this decision for a long time. And the question she was facing: could she live the rest of her life knowing that Draco Malfoy had gotten her where she was at? She wouldn't let her teacher or Draco forge the recommendation; it was going to have to be honest. If she did this, all she was doing was working a little overtime and getting a teacher sooner rather than later. That was okay.

Wasn't it?

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><p><em>Who would you like to see teach Juliet of the Harry Potter characters? And what scenes would you like to see take place? If you leave me an idea, I'll do my best to work it into this story. Thank you so much for the feedback! I hope this chapter is enjoyable.<br>_

_Haunting: yes I have read After warmth; I tried to add in a bit more emotionality and I would have to say that for this story most of the chapters are going to be about 1,500 words in length. Depending, they could begin to grow longer._

_I'm kind of short on ideas of what to do with this story, I know where I want it to go but I need some things to take place in between and so I would love to hear/read what you would like to see. _


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